Table of Contents

This Chapter

By James Farol Metcalf

The three-pound hydrocarbon human brain contains a higher percentage of water than any other part of the body to keep the "electronics" cool as it consumes large amounts of energy. This little wet binary computer with billions of cells allowed man to plan and achieve control over all other living creatures.

Each remarkable human brain is programmed to control the functions of the human body. It also allows reasoning and continuous questioning of "how" and "why". Questions answered, right or wrong, is the process used to teach the brain and unanswered questions become a mystery.

A small clip from Northrup's fiction relates learning to magnetism.

"The babe I call me doubtless received a multitude of impressions of what we are wont to consider the objective world. But all brain marks made in the first two or three years soon dim and are perhaps forever lost. Such brain records are like magnetism imparted to steel which has been but slightly hardened. When any new and differently directed magnetic force is applied, the first imparted magnetism is gone. Then later, perhaps at the age of four or five years, the developing brain takes on more and more the qualities of well hardened "alnico" steel which, once magnetized, can have its magnetic pattern changed or erased only by a new magnetizing force of uncommon strength. Likewise, as years are added many records in our brain cells become hard to erase, and remain as memories to please or plague us to life's end."

The individual human brain seeks an answer to mysteries and the "big one" is the meaning and beginning of life.

Humans could not tolerate the unknown so the human brain created Gods to explain things. The Gods of history were given many assignments including the control of the forces of nature. All recorded history finds some sort of God in charge of human activity. Some Gods were good and some were bad but in almost every case powerful men and women used them to control the minds of the weak.

In a sophisticated way this practice continues today. Whether God created man or man defined God is beyond my ability to comprehend. Like my mother and father before me I accept a Creator as an insurance policy and avoid arguments with others religious beliefs.

Humans were surely living on earth before history recorded their activities.

Human skeletons found and carbon dated in the twentieth century led to the conclusion that man first appeared in Africa but recent finds in Australia appear to be older.

It seems logical that there was a major event in nature that might have shifted the center of rotation of the earth on its axis and brought about a rapid climate change to kill off the large mammals in a hurry. This event could have reduced the population of humans if they existed at that time. Many of the stories of cultures of mankind have the flood as an event in history. The Akkadian language was the first to be found where man used writing to record events.

The following is a clip from Northrup's book:

"As you shall presently hear, these clay tablets present to us a chapter from the life of a king's son--an autobiography which he dictated to his Sumerian scribe. The king was the great Hammurapi. His time was 2076-2025 BC it was he who was responsible for building up the highest Sumerian civilization, and for giving security to the advanced and ancient peoples who dwelt in the plains where flow the Tigris and Euphrates--the land we now call Mesopotamia.

The neat record of the beginning and of history of humans was maintained by the Jews.

The story starts about 4,000 years ago with the Abraham, his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. The Book of Genesis tells how Abraham was told to leave Ur (Baghdad) and move to Canaan to form a nation with a belief in the One God. After a famine Jacob and his twelve sons with their families settled in Egypt. The Jewish people were enslaved for four hundred years before being led to freedom by Moses. The story records that they wandered for 40 years in the desert before they received the Torah with its Ten Commandments.

The epic movie "Moses" staring Charlton Heston has been seen by billions and forms the basis for understanding of this period by the people of our time. The Ten Commandments most probably was transcribed on a clay block made similar to the description in Northrup's fiction.

"Kazar, my good scribe, take now two score of clay balls; roll them into thin sheets, and hold in hand your reed. I have a story to tell of my heart's longings and wondrous happenings in the month of Elul. All this I would have you put on record. When, after you have pressed your reed into the soft clay (thus to keep in permanence all which I shall tell) I wish you to have care and fire the slabs in an over-hot furnace: only thus will the inscription in all time remain for blood descendants of a King to read and profit thereby.

It did not take long for the Jews to conquer the Land of Israel and give up their nomadic ways to become farmers and craftsmen. During times of war during the people followed leaders known as "judges," as their rulers. The major threat was the sea-going people were the Philistines from Asia Minor who settled on the country's Mediterranean coast. It was time for a King to take over that could pass power to his sons. Saul (1020 BC) bridged the period between loose tribal organization and the setting up of a full monarchy under his successor.

King David (1004-965 BC) established Israel as a major power in the region using military power including the defeat of the Philistines. He united the twelve Israelite tribes into one kingdom and formed his capital in Jerusalem. Solomon (965-930 BC) was the next King and made the country more secure by treaties with neighboring kings that were reinforced by politically motivated marriages.

During the reign of Solomon Israel became one of the great powers of the age. Foreign trade was expanded and major enterprises for copper mining and metal smelting were established. Times were good but not without political scandal. In peace and prosperity greed showed its ugly head and the divide between the rich and poor was severe enough to cause unrest. The Prophets preached to the Kings and the people that all was not right because they were moving away from their God.

History records the first trade union as the masons building King Solomon's Temple. The symbol the FreeMason's use today is the square and compass.

After Solomon's death in 930 BC the ten northern tribes broke away resulting in a division of the country into the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and the southern kingdom, Judah. The Kingdom of Israel was conquered and destroyed in 722 BC and the people were exiled to oblivion.

Magnetism and electricity were first investigated by the Greek philosopher, Thales, in 600 BC. He wrote that when amber was rubbed it would pick up light objects. He also recorded of the power of lodestone to attract iron. The word "electricity" and "magnetism" are derived from the Greek. Ekektpov is the Greek word for amber and the word magnet probably came from Magnesia, a district where lodestones were found. The Latin word for amber was "electricum". In 600 BC the possible forerunner of the lightning rod when it was recorded that Etruscans could draw lightning from the sky and turn it aside.

The square and circle has been in front of human eyes since the beginning but in 600 BC Thales was given credit for geometry of the circle and the invention of the bicycle.

In 586 BC Babylon conquered the Kingdom of Judah and exiling most of its inhabitants to Babylon. The city of Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed.

In about 560 BC Buddha was born in Nepal and Confucius was born in China.

The res publica was established before the end of the fifth century BC. The change from Monarchy to Republic in Rome was a gradual one. The waging of war was assigned two consuls of equal rank that were elected for one year. Rome was never a democracy, as the Greeks understood it. In Roman society power was divided by class between the free and the enslaved. The early Republic was ruled by the two upper classes, the senators, who qualified by birth and wealth, and the knights. The name, knight, stems from the fact that they were supplied with a horse when required for military duty. The history of Rome was constant warfare.

In 538 BC the Persian King allowed about 50,000 Jews to return to Israel led by a descendant of the House of David. Less than a century later more Jews returned and were given varying degrees of self-rule under Persian control until 333 BC. In Babylon Judaism began to develop a religious framework and way of life outside Israel that would help them survive as a race and maintain their spiritual identity in future situations. Under Persian control the Jews were allowed to construct the Second Temple on the site of the First Temple, Judah became a nation centered in Jerusalem without a King with the leadership controlled by the high priest and a council of elders.

In 530 BC Pythagoras looked at a tile floor and noted that twenty-five tiles formed a square of five, nine a square of three and sixteen a square of four. From simple math he wrote down the theory of a square-angled triangle. "The number of squares on the short sides when added together equaled the number of squares on the long side."

This was not genius at work but rather an observer.

Not many years later in 400 BC Hippocrates was credited as being the father of medicine. By 350 BC Eudoxus had written the planetary motion theory noting that the earth and other planets orbited around the sun.

Aristotle supported the theory of concentric spheres that explained independent motions of the sun, moon, and planets. He believed that force could only be applied by contact. He concluded that force from a distance, like gravity or magnetism, was impossible. He reasoned that a constant force was required to maintain a body in uniform motion. His teachings of the motion of bodies impeded the understanding of gravitation for a long time.

Aristotle's logic was that "continuous" could not be made up of indivisible parts. Continuous was that in which the boundary or limit between two consecutive parts was one and the same where they touched. His logic could not handle infinity and he believed that it did not actually exist but only potentially existed. He wrote:

"But my argument does not anyhow rob mathematicians of their study, although it denies the existence of the infinite in the sense of actual existence as something increased to such an extent that it cannot be gone through; for, as it is, they do not need the infinite or use it, but only require that the finite straight line shall be as long as they please. Hence it will make no difference to them for the purpose of proof."

By 1945 my head was full of teachings. The small local church taught me that if I repented and accepted Jesus there was a place for me to live in God's Grace forever. The other option was to burn in Hell forever. My brain was asking a simple question; how am I going to make it in Grace until this boring church service is over.

Sometime later I read a space fiction that said time would stand still if we traveled at the speed of light. My schoolteacher told me that all matter was in motion but everything would stop at absolute zero. Grandpa taught me Newton's theory of attraction. I was aware of the awesome power of converting matter to energy when atom bombs were dropped on Japan.

My high school chemistry teacher opened my mind that let me peek inside an atom to find another universe full of energy particles but almost empty. The "big bang" theory became a possibility in my small brain.

Aristotle was born in Macedonia in 384BC. The people spoke a dialect of Greek and were considered uncouth heathens by the superior society in Athens. Macedonia kings had absorbed Greek culture and technical skills and required their subjects to worship the Greek gods. Events in the latter part of the 300's BC allowed the Macedonians to dominate Greece. King Philip II united the city-states of Greece and made them rich before he was assassinated in 336 BC. Aristotle had a great influence on the new king, Alexander, as he started his army eastward toward Asia Minor. He advised Alexander to turn non-Greeks he defeated into slaves but Alexander wanted to win their respect and cooperation and enslave them as loyal subjects. It was not long before he was the king of Asia. He set his next goal as Egypt but bypassed Judah as an unimportant priest-state run by an ineffectual collection of stargazers. As part world conquered by Alexander Judah later became a Jewish theocracy under Syrian-based rulers.

Egyptians welcomed Alexander as a liberator from Persian rule. Egypt's priesthood hailed him as pharaoh. Early in the year 331 BC he sailed down the Nile, and found a place he thought perfect for a city. There he founded Alexandria to be populated by people from neighboring villages and towns and by retired Macedonian, Greek and Balkan veterans from Alexander's army. Here was build a great library as suggested by Aristotle to store all the documents and archives of the Greek and Egyptian history.

Alexander returned to Babylon, where he conducted a campaign against a rebellion in Samaria. There a group of Jews had captured and burned alive their governor. Samarians surrendered those responsible for the killing, and Alexander had the murderers executed on the spot. He expelled the Jews and invited people from Macedonia to settle there. For Alexander's soldiers it was time to spend their pay on Babylon's women. On his way to India he marched into the Hindu Kush Mountains. Aristotle believed that from this summit he would be able to see the end of the world. In these mountains the local people showed Alexander the rock where the mythical Prometheus was said to have been chained after he gave the gift of fire to humanity.

Alexander planned to make Babylon the capital of his great new empire and saw himself as creating the kind of government Aristotle wanted by becoming a benevolent philosopher King. He planned to build docks after dredging of the Euphrates River to the Persian Gulf. He wanted to extend his conquests to Sicily and Italy to unite more of the world under his rule. But fate exercised an influence and in 323 BC at the age of thirty-two Alexander the Great died.

Aristotle's travels with Alexander spread his influence that would determine the orientation and content of Western intellectual history. His philosophical and scientific system became basis for medieval Christian and Islamic scholastic thought until the end of the 17th century. Even after the intellectual revolutions Aristotelian concepts and ideas remained embedded in Western thinking.

In the 300's BC the Qin dynasty united China for the first time and began to build the Great Wall as defense against the northern nomads. The Han dynasty overthrew Qin and developed its vast empire. Buddhism spread north. Paper was produced.

Euclid established the rules of geometry in 300 BC. By 200 BC Eratosthenes had determined the size of earth. About this same time a simple battery using copper and iron and probably citrus juices produced a two-volt current. Other artifacts indicate that they were hooked in series and could have been used to plate gold on silver.

By 180 BC Archimedes determined how to calculate the area of circle. He wrote down the principles of lever, screw, and buoyancy while looking for a long pole and something to set it on so he could lift the earth. He was given credit for the word "eureka", breakthrough, when he learned to weigh gold in water to see if it was pure.

Alexander the Great was considered divine in most of the area he had conquered. His early death set the stage for the downfall of his empire. It was attacked from all direction and sought the support of Rome. The main attacks against Greek cities were from Macedonia. The people and Senate in Rome were sick of these wars because they were not adding to the treasury. A short truce allowed Rome to concentrate on conquering parts of Africa but this effort failed. The people were really tired of war but the Senate realized that Macedonia was prepared to attack Rome after winning their fight with Greek cities. So Rome chose war. It was slow going for Rome and the members of the Senate debated the methods of war.

On the wall behind Rowan's desk was document in a simple picture frame that a friend had given to him. The message was simple. In our day the "pungent" or talking heads offer us instant opinions sometimes without knowing the subject matter.

Lucius Emilius Paulus, a Roman Consul, who had been selected to conduct the war with the Macedonians went out from the Senate house in 168 BC into the assembly of the people and addressed them as follows:

"In every circle, and, truly, at every table, there are people who lead armies into Macedonia; who know where the camp ought to be placed; what posts ought be occupied by troops; when and through what pass that territory should be entered; where magazines should be formed; how provisions should be conveyed by land and sea; and when it is proper to engage the enemy, when to lie quiet.

And they not only determine what is best to be done, but if any thing is done, but if anything is done in any other manner than they have pointed out, they arraign the consul, as if he were on trial before them.

These are great impediments to those who have the management of affairs; for every one cannot encounter injurious reports with the same constancy and firmness of mind as Fabius did, who chose to let his own abilities be questioned through the folly of the people, rather than to mismanage the public business with a high reputation.

I am not one of those who think that commanders ought at no time receive advice; on the contrary, I deem that man more proud than wise, who regulated every proceeding by the standard of his own single judgement.

What is then my opinion?

That commanders should be counseled, chiefly, by persons of known talent; by those who have made the art of war their particular study, and whose knowledge is derived from experience; from those who are present at the scene of action, who see the country; who see the enemy; who see the advantages that occasions offer, and who, like people embarked in the same ship, are sharers of the danger.

If, therefore, any one thinks himself qualified to give advice respecting the war which I am to conduct, which may prove advantageous to the public, let him not refuse his assistance to the state, but let him come with me to Macedonia.

He shall be furnished with a ship, a horse, a tent; even his traveling charges shall be defrayed.

But if he thinks this is too much trouble, and prefers the repose of city life to the toils of war, let him not, on land, assume the office of a pilot.

The city, in itself, furnishes abundance of topics for conversation; let it confine its passion for talking within its own precincts, and rest assured that we will pay no attention to any councils but such as shall be framed within our camp."

Paulus reorganized his forces and won an overwhelming victory to satisfy Rome. Macedonia was broken up into three republics. All towns were required to give up their gold and silver before they were destroyed. At least 150, 000 people were sold into slavery. There was quite a celebration for Paulus. Twenty years later Macedonia reunited and Rome again sent the army that was defeated.

The Senate approved a large force and this time Rome marched across Greece. Cities were sacked, men massacred, and the women and children were sold into slavery. Macedonia and Greece were annexed as provinces of Rome. The first great experiment in democracy was dead and most of the old records were destroyed.

In 164 BC the Jews entered Jerusalem and purified the Temple. This was after a revolt by the population when the overlords imposed Greek culture and forbade them from practicing Judaism and desecrated the Temple. This event commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.

In 129 BC Jewish independence was achieved and lasted about 80 years. The kingdom regained most of the land Solomon controlled and Jewish life flourished. As before a movement of political unrest over division of wealth and power was growing in the land of the One God.

Julius Caesar was the most famous Roman of all times. The people of Rome wanted a King as the sole ruler and Caesar seized the moment. He used his popularity and power of his soldiers to capture power in 45 BC and quickly showed that he was a visionary statesman. He established order and reformed the calendar, which, with one slight adjustment, is the one in use today. Five months later he was dead at the hands of a band of senatorial conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus. The conspirators thought they could restore the senatorial republic but Mark Antony was ready to assume power. Neither side took much notice of a youngster whom the childless Caesar had adopted, his great-nephew Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.

The conflict that took place between Antony and Octavianus is well documented in history books and Elizabeth Taylor portrayal of Cleopatra follows the facts reasonably.

Rome captured the area around Judah in 63 BC. In 40 BC Judah became a province of the Roman Empire. In 37 BC Herod was appointed King of Judah by the Romans. He was granted almost unlimited autonomy in the country's internal affairs and remodeled the Temple into one of the most magnificent buildings of its time but he failed to win the trust and support of his Jewish subjects. They could see the handwriting on the wall that another power was going to enslave them. This was added to unrest in religious and economic circles. John the Baptist was leading a rebel group with his teachings.

The Roman Republic was dissolved in 27 BC and Caesar Augustus was proclaimed the father of his country. He and future leaders would use the Senate to their advantage. Later he would become divine.

Sometime around the fall of the Roman Republic Jesus Christ was born in Judah. Roman or Jewish records do not fix the date but Saint Matthew records his birth during the rule of Herod. He also records that Jesus was taken to Egypt to avoid Herod's order to kill all male children under two and he returned to Judah as a young child. Saint Mark records the beheading of John the Baptist because his spoke poorly of Herod's marriage to his brother's wife. Mark also records that Herod thought Christ was John who had risen from the dead.

Pontius Pilate was appointed governor of Judah in 6 AD just ten years after Herod's death in 4 BC. It was Pilate that approved the order to hang Jesus on the cross. Other than the Gospels there is no record of the life of Jesus.

The simple message of Christ to the poor that a place was prepared for them after death had to be appealing. His biting remarks against the moneychangers in the Temple did not make friends with the rich and powerful. Rome was not worried about this rebel so Pilate washed his hands.

The Disciples of Christ still practiced the Jewish faith as they continued to preach. They left town not too long after his Christ's death and records show Saint Peter in Rome preaching the gospel. Some of the followers of Christ traveled north the Greek speaking portions of the Roman Empire and established a church in the region that would be later named Constantinople, now Istanbul Turkey. The Old Testament was maintained in Hebrew while the Gospels were in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

Rome did not have a problem with the Jewish religion because it did not resonate with the rich or the poor in their area of influence. To the contrary they admired the intellect and craftsmanship of the people. Apparently many of the displaced were welcomed in the European part of the Roman Empire as they moved to Spain, France, England, and Germany. Rome had a problem with the Jewish religious sect that believed Christ would return very soon to be the King of the world.

The epic movie "Ben Hur" with Charlton Heston is set in this time frame.

Not long after the Romans destroyed and burned the great library in Alexandria. Half of Rome was burned to the ground while Nero was enjoying the dramatic moment in AD 64. He sought to recover his popularity with the mob by illuminating his gardens with a public display of burning Christians. His excuse was that they had set fire to Rome.

Growing anger in Judah against increased Roman suppression of Jewish life resulted in sporadic violence escalated into a full-scale revolt in 66 AD. Superior Roman forces led by Titus were finally victorious, razing Jerusalem to the ground in 70 AD. The total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was catastrophic for the Jewish people.

The War of the Jews written by Flavius Josephus provides a detailed history of the period but some of the book is suspect because he was writing it for the Caesar at the time.

My father discovered late in his life that his mother could be Jewish. He had always been an avid reader of Greek, Roman and Biblical history and with the possibility that technically he was Jewish he began to read all of the works of Josephus. He also started doing research on the history of our area. Picking up that task is, in part, the reason I am writing this document.

Saint Paul changed the course of history by teaching a Christian faith that was not tied to Jewish religious practice. His message found traction with many poor people in the Roman Empire and the ranks of believers grew rapidly.

Writings about electricity during this time endowed magnets with a soul claiming that "the magnet attracts iron as a bridegroom would his bride."

A last brief period of Jewish sovereignty in ancient times followed the revolt In 132 AD Jerusalem and Judah were regained following a revolt. With overwhelming power the Romans recaptured Jerusalem three years later and it was "plowed up with a yoke of oxen," Judah was renamed Palaestinia. Jews and Judaism survived the encounter with Rome and the small remaining Jewish community gradually recovered, reinforced from time to time by returning exiles. Institutional and communal life was renewed with priests being replaced by rabbis and the synagogue became the focus of Jewish settlement. Jewish religious law served as the common bond among the Jews and was passed on from generation to generation. There is no record were many of the Jewish exiles found new homes but the history of early Europe finds them in many places. One historical document finds Jews thriving in Babylon in 250 AD.

The Romans thought that their Empire covered most of the world where man lived. Their policy of plunder and tax payments to Rome did not make friends and soon they found themselves under attack from within and from the fringes of their Empire.

After Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 313 AD a day was selected to celebrate the birth of Christ. A Roman holiday was already celebrated for children where slaves acted the parts of masters and masters became slaves. During this holiday it was customary to decorate homes and offices with greenery. December 25 became Christmas.

Recent TV programs suggest that a sect of the Jewish faith to Jesus was a part of celebrated a holiday at the start of winter. This would also be about December 25.